Category Archives: Croatian Wine

Amongst the whites, I was most impressed by the ’09 Coronica Malvazia from Itra, which is a good value at $20, and a terrific wine for pairing with vegetable dishes and salads. On the red side, we got to try a rare bottling of Crljenak Kaštelanski–the grape indigenous to Croatia but nearly extinct there that was found to be identical to California’s Zinfandel, and which is now being planted again. The bottle we tried, from Zlatan Plenkovic, is one of the first bottlings of this newly replanted grape to appear. I tried the very first vintage of this wine, the 2007, when I first met Frank, and I like the 2008 version even better. We also had a Teran–the high acid variety indigenous to Istria, which had been thought to be the same as Italian Refosco, but which is now known to be genetically distinct, and more Plavac Malis. Continue reading →

I may not be welcomed back to one of these things in the future after registering here my honest impression of this event. Realistically, though, I wouldn’t want to return if there’s not a major change in the way it’s structured, especially the total domination of the program by activities devoted to the event’s sponsors. But if one or more of us don’t speak up when the organizers go way overboard in selling off the vast majority of the program time to sponsors, what does that say about journalistic values in wine blogging? Continue reading →

The Plavac Malis in our blindtasting ranged from a bottling that is traditionally raised, in large casks, with no new oak; to wines that are raised all or partially in small barriques; to a bottling produced in consultation with Michel Rolland. Our white wine was from the Pošip grape, which is primarily grown on the island of Korčula, where it is the primary grape. Our other red wine was the first bottling of a varietal Crljenak Kaštelanski, now that a sufficient amount of this nearly extinct Croatian version of the Zinfandel grape has been grown to permit a varietal bottling. We easily picked it out as the Zinfandel in our blindtasting. Continue reading →